Anna Thomas' Green Soup

It all started a few weeks ago. It was a Saturday afternoon, I was washing dishes and listening to The Splendid Table on NPR. Lynne Rosetto Kasper was talking with Anna Thomas, author of a classic cookbook from the 70's, The Vegetarian Epicure. Lynne and Anna were talking soup. Anna talked about how one day she had some leftover greens in her fridge. Along with an onion, a little rice, and a few spices she decided to make a green soup... gently cooked and then pureed and finished with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

To be honest, at first I was sort of turned off.... okay, pureed greens... in a soup. Yeah.

But then I was intrigued. I love greens and I certainly don't eat enough of them. The soup was easy to make, vegetarian... but what really inspired me? That drizzle of olive oil. 

Lynne talked about how olive oil has a distinctly different flavor when used as a garnish, than it does when used for general cooking. I love the flavor of olive oil when cooking and I also love it in salad dressings... but I never thought about the differences in flavor.

So I decided to make the soup.

Wow. Such a simple concept: hearty spinach and chard, gently simmered with onions, vegetable broth, a little rice, a pinch of cayenne, and a splash of lemon juice. It was absolutely delicious. I've underestimated greens and soup. Normally when we make soup in our house, much of it often gets thrown away. There's just too much. This soup? I couldn't get enough. I ate the entire batch in about 4 settings.

And then I made another batch. And another. And atop each bowl of warm, creamy green soup? That drizzle of olive oil. The olive oil make this soup. It's warm, rich olive flavor slowly mixed into the creamy soup... it gave me a whole new meaning of the word soup.

I decided to share this recipe today in celebration of a new blog & website entitled, "The Balanced Platter." It's a website that was started by Amy Green of Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and Maggie Savage of She Let Them Eat Cake. The website will regularly share healthy recipes and tips from a variety of gluten free bloggers. I hope you'll visit the site and see what you think!

And meanwhile... try green soup. It's an easy and delicious way to get more vitamin rich, leafy greens into your diet without a lot of effort. For another variation of this soup, try Heidi's non-pureed version on 101 Cookbooks.

This Week's Menu -- Meet Maya

Meet Maya

This is Maya (pronounced "my-uh"). She's kitty #3 in our house and is about 6 years old. We adopted her as a kitten. M & I are both crazy for our cats. Yep, we're those people. And we're okay with that. If you're not a cat person, you won't get it. Don't even try. But these kitties... they bring me a lot of joy. They are really good company. This particular kitty is always waiting at the kitchen door when I get home. She's the main talker in our family (I think she talks more than M & I do put together). She responds when you speak to her with abbreviated meows and half-purrs, by rubbing her head against your arm. By keeping your lap or legs warm in the dusty pink armchair. She's a grey/blue kitty with patches of orange tabby stripes. Maya is a very thoughtful cat. She'll bring Max (our 4th kitty) his favorite toys when she wants to play. She will curl up with me quietly when I've had a bad day. She seems to know the right times to talk and when not too. People often have a hard time with that skill.

Maya is our mostly gluten free kitty. This girl needs her protein. (She's a lot like her owner the person who buys her food! lol) She doesn't do well with grain-based cat foods... and if you feed it to her, she'll throw it right back up... you know, on your shoes, or right in the middle of the hallway, or right where you'd put your feet down on the floor when you get up in the morning. She'll let you know her tummy isn't happy.

Maya also hates my alarm clock. If I hit the snooze too long, or don't hear it going off.. she gets near the top of my head, roots around my head, finds a good patch of hair and tugs on it hard to wake me up. Thanks Maya.

In other news... we're in the midst of a very busy time... cookbook writing is in full swing and I'm in the thick of it. Through the end of February, the blog will continue to be on the back burner unfortunately. I hope you don't mind.

But I am trying to get back in the habit of weekly menus... life sure goes more smoothly for me when we have a menu plan in place. And I think Michael is actually getting sick of cereal nights (maybe a blessing in disguise?)

This Week's Menu: 

• Monday -- Cheryl's sniffle stew (with something in place of the chickpeas, but I'm not sure what yet... maybe ground chicken meatballs or something) 

• Tuesday -- Meatloaf stuffed green peppers (will be in The Everything Gluten Free Slow Cooker Cookbook, coming October 2012) with a salad and slow cooker au gratin potatoes for Michael

• Wednesday -- Thai Chicken Wraps (I'll probably just make this a salad)

• Thursday -- Gluten Free "Spaghetti" and Meatballs... I will either use spaghetti squash or "Miracle Noodles" (Anybody tried them? I've heard rave reviews!) 

• Friday -- Sauteed chicken & veggies -- not sure of the seasonings we'll use yet -- possibly Greek Seasoning, Herbs de Provence, or a very mild mix of Indian spices. 

• Saturday -- Taco Salads using ground turkey, taco seasoning, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, olives

• Sunday -- Breakfast for dinner -OR- Leftovers 

So here's what I've been doing...

This is the reason you haven't seen many recipes on GLG in the past 6 months... I've been a bit preoccupied. If you've read any of my meal plans in the past year you know I like my slow cookers.

And the folks at Adams Media picked up on that too. I'm thrilled to be writing my first cookbook for them! The recipes are coming along. I have a band of faithful readers and friends who are helping me test, test, test recipes.

To say I'm proud of this book, would be an understatement. I've wanted to write a book for years. A few years into blogging gluten free.. I REALLY wanted to write a cookbook, but I honestly didn't know where to start.

This process has been hard. It's brought tears, frustration, and absolute joy. I'm really proud of myself for making this book happen. And more importantly, I'm thankful for my friends who have inspired me, uplifted me, and been tough critics when necessary.

I'll share some more details very soon, but seeing the book actually listed on Amazon today is an incredibly good feeling.

Have a great week!!